Oh, boy. If you’re a gamer, this holiday season is going to be like Christmas and all your best birthdays combined. That’s because both Sony and Microsoft are releasing their next-generation gaming consoles.

This is pretty much a once in a decade event. After all, the PS4 and Xbox One both came out in 2013, a full seven years ago. And sure, both Sony and Microsoft have released iterations to those consoles in the past several years, but their internals has pretty much stayed the same.

But that’s all changing with the Xbox Series X and the PlayStation 5. Not only are both consoles packed to the gills with tech previous-gen consoles couldn’t even dream of, but they both also look radically different. But we know what you really want to know is how do they compare against each other. So let’s take a look…

Xbox Series X vs PlayStation 5 Quick Comparison

Design

Xbox Series X – The Xbox Series X features an all-new vertical design. It looks like something out of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Or the cousin to Apple’s 2013 Mac Pro. Regardless, we think it’s pretty cool looking.
PlayStation 5 – The PS5 looks radically different than the Xbox Series X (and the PS4 before it. It’s got a wave design, which has inspired a lot of laughs on Twitter.

Winner? Xbox Series X – The Xbox Series X looks like a powerhouse of a console. don’t get us wrong, the PS5 should be applauded for its interesting design choice, but it’s not what most people expect a game console to look like.

..Mmm. Nah that can’t be it. lol

I feel like this is the most memed a console has ever been. -Yes there are plenty of other console designs that are unorthodox, goofy, or impractical, but PS5 manages to be like.. all of these things at once.

Maybe it’ll grow on me, who knows 🤷‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/YPnKMP1kKH

— LanceBeryl (@LanceBeryl) June 13, 2020

MORE: Microsoft Surface Duo: Why It’ll Probably Be Awesome…

CPU/GPU

Xbox Series X – the Xbox Series X features the 3.6 GHz Custom AMD Zen 2-based CPU, which is insanely fast. It also sports a Custom AMD Navi-based GPU that performs ops at 12 teraflops per second.
PlayStation 5 – the PlayStation 5 features the 3.5 GHz Custom AMD Zen 2-based CPU. The GPU is a custom RDNA 2 that performs at 10.2 teraflops per second.

Winner? Xbox Series X – The 3.6 GHz Custom AMD Zen 2-based CPU in the Series X is just a hair faster than the PS5. They both use the same chip, but just with a 100Mhz difference. But when it comes to the GPU, the Xbox’s gets an extra 2 TF of power.

RAM

Xbox Series X – The Xbox Series X features 16GB of GDDR6 RAM.
PlayStation 5 – The PlayStation 5 features 16GB of GDDR6 RAM.

Winner? Draw – Both have the exact same amount and type of RAM.

Storage Options

Xbox Series X – 1TB SSD drive
PlayStation 5 – 825GB SSD drive

Winner? Xbox Series X – Both have SSD drives, but the Xbox gives you 175GB more space with a total of 1TB.

MORE: The Best Selling PS4 Games (ALL-TIME)

Price

Xbox Series X – unknown
PlayStation 5 – unknown

Verdict?

Spec for spec, the Xbox Series X beats the PS5 on several fronts including its CPU (slightly faster), storage (much larger), and GPU (more teraflops). The Xbox Series X also includes a 4K UHD Blu-ray drive as standard (for those who still love physical media).

But do these specs mean the Xbox Series X is the clear winner here? Well, no. Technically they are similar enough where most gamers probably won’t see that much of a difference in performance. Which console is ultimately the “best” is really going to boil down to the content available on them–and that means exclusives. You can bet the PS5 is going to have an exclusive Spider-Man game and the Xbox Series X is going to have an exclusive Halo game. If you’re a fan of either of those franchises, then your choice is clear.

However, one last caveat is price. Right now neither Sony nor Microsoft has announced pricing. As with specs, pricing should be similar, but if there happens to be a wide disparity, that could sway a lot of people to one console over the other.

Xbox Series X vs PlayStation 5: Specs

Here are the specs for the Xbox Series X:

CPU: 3.6 GHz Custom AMD Zen 2-based CPU
GPU: Custom AMD Navi-based GPU (12 TF)
Storage: 1TB SSD drive
RAM: 16GB GDDR6
Video output: 8K UHD
Optical Drive: 4K UHD Blu-ray drive

And here are the specs for the PlayStation 5:

CPU: 3.5 GHz Custom AMD Zen 2-based CPU
GPU: Custom RDNA 2 (10.2 TF)
Storage: 825GB SSD
RAM: 16GB GDDR6
Video output: 8K UHD
Optical Drive: 4K UHD Blu-ray drive (optional)

MORE: The Best Selling Xbox One Games (ALL-TIME)

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Michael Grothaus

Apple expert and novelist, Michael Grothaus has been covering tech on KnowYourMobile for the best part of 10 years. Prior to this, he worked at Apple. And before that, he was a film journalist. Michael is a published author; his book Epiphany Jones was voted as one of the best novels about Hollywood by Entertainment Weekly. Michael is also a writer at other publications including VICE and Fast Company.

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